Fri.’s Devo - God Almighty

Read: Isaiah 33:10-36:22; Galatians 5:13-26; Psalm 64:1-10; Proverbs 23:23 One of God’s repeating themes throughout the Bible is that the ungodly will be judged and the righteous will be saved. Isaiah spells out who the godly are. They are those who are honest and fair and refuse to take bribes or defraud others. They refuse to plot murder or be enticed to do wrong. These are the ones who will rule the mountain. They will be supplied with food and water in abundance. *** At the time, the enemy was the Assyrian army who had come to take Jerusalem. But, Isaiah was reminding them of a much greater king than the king of Assyria. God will protect Jerusalem from their enemy and they will stand strong. The wealth of the Assyrians will be given to the righteous and God will forgive their sins. *** God will judge the world and Edom will be destroyed for all the evil they did against God’s people. Their land will become a desert from generation to generation and no one will live there again. It will be given to the wild animals and be called the Land of Nothing. *** Out of the midst of that nothingness will spring life and healing and hope. A road that was once deserted will become known as the Highway of Holiness and the evil-minded people will not be able to travel it. It will be for those who walk in God’s ways. Those ransomed by the Lord will enter Jerusalem singing for joy. *** In Hezekiah’s 14th year, King Sennacherib of Assyria came to destroy Jerusalem. The Assyrian’s chief of staff sent a message to Hezekiah telling him he was had no hope to win. Egypt would not help them and neither would God. Their army was tiny compared to Assyria’s. *** When the leaders asked the Assyrian officer not to speak in Hebrew so the people could understand him, he told them that he was speaking so they could understand. He wanted them to be afraid and lose heart. He reminded them of the other nations who fell and thought their god would rescue them. Their gods were not able to stand against Assyria’s army. They didn’t know that their god was not just any other god he was The God Almighty. *** The people didn’t answer the officer because Hezekiah had told them not to answer him. Hezekiah was told what was being said and he tore his clothes in despair. *** In Galatians, Paul tells us not to use our freedom in Christ as an excuse to sin, but instead as a way to serve one another in love. We can do this by allowing the Holy Spirit to guide our lives. The Holy Spirit sets us free from the law. He will produce his fruit in us which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. *** Lord, we choose to be controlled by your Holy Spirit instead of our sinful nature. We choose to walk in love.